Tactical Media

Tactical media is a term coined in 1996, to denote a form of media activism that privileges temporary, hit-and-run interventions in the media sphere over the creation of permanent and alternative media outlets. Tactical media describes interventionist media art practices that engage and critique the dominant political and economic order. They were first popularized in Europe and the United States by media theorists and practitioners such as David Garcia, Geert Lovink, Joanne Richardson, and the Critical Art Ensemble. Since then, it has been used to describe the practices of a vast array of art and activist groups such as RTMark, The Yes Men, Electronic Disturbance Theater, Carbon Defense League, Institute for Applied Autonomy, 0100101110101101.ORG, Bureau of Inverse Technology, Ubermorgen, Irrational, subRosa, and I/O/D, among others.